Darkside of Innocence are a gothic/black metal band hailing from Portugal. They have just released their debut CD titled “Infernum Liberus EST” and judging from the song titles, art work, etc. you would get a pretty good idea of what this band is all about. They play some highly theatrical black metal with some mournful, classical pieces to enhance the songs, not unlike say, Dimmu Borgir. Whatever the case the band features a male and female vocals that are very good and very different from each other. It all makes for a very interesting listening experience. The CD is divided up into five acts, like a play and it adds to the overall theatrics and drama of the songs. Act I begins with the 2-minute intro track “Inferno”. It is complete with rainfall, church bells and other eerie horror movie like effects before it segues into the bombastic opening track “Angel of Sin”, which begins like a shot and we are off and running. Right away the vocals of Pedro Remiz and Sara Henriques are quite the attention grabber, his are a very intense style in the black metal vein, while hers are angelic sounding, “Angel of Sin” is a great opening track that manages to add a good dose of melody along with the mayhem that is being presented. From there the band launch into the relentless next track “The Eve toa Cold Epoch”, this is one of the heavier tracks offered up on this collection with – once again – Pedro and Sara are working well together. Act II begins with “Once upon Havoc and Despair”, which is another shorter interlude piece featuring some female spoken lyrics and a mournful violin bit, that leads us into: “An Impending Commence for Decay” which hits you fast and heavy. You have to admire the ambitiousness that the band have put into this project, sometimes an album such as this can come off as cheesy or too over-the-top, but that is not the case with “Infernum Liberus EST”. The songs are intricate, yet still manage to be melodic and heavy at the same time. One of the things I really enjoyed about this CD are the melodic elements combined with the black metal material of the songs. The songs are very well written as evidenced by other favorites: “To Her Spawn in Full Submission”, “Bloody Mistress” and “In Nomine Dementia”. Actually, “Infernum Liberus EST” is pretty damn good from top-to-bottom.The band is bound to be compared to Dimmu Borgir (which is not a bad thing, in my opinion), based on their orchestral approach and their music which transcends your average black metal. The music and songs on “Infernum Liberus EST” are certainly grandiose and have an epic feel to them. This one is definitely for fans of thematic, conceptual and orchestral black metal. As far as black metal goes, this is definitely a band that should distance themselves from the pack and they have a great chance of appealing to a much broader fan base.